Eyes of Darkness
by Peace Ocean
Summary: Zach has captured an injured Chris, and replaced him with a clone who's mind is controled by one of his Zachbots, X-97, but will his plan to destroy the Wild Kratts work this time? Or will it back fire?
1. Chapter 1

**Princess: Okay, first off, lemme tell you how lame this story is going to be. It has no plot whatsoever, the characters are all out of whack, the most improbable things in the world are happening, the villains fade in and out, and when they're in the story they are really kinda-**

**Iris,*interrupts*: They're all kinda "leeleeleelalala, I'm just going to come and try to steal the weird looking bear thing with a long tail, and oh no, you stopped me, waaaaaaa! I'll get you next time Wild rats!" or "I'm a fashion designer, long and thin, here is my lizard ring, here's my snake belt. When I get all steamed up, hear me shout 'Dabio, get those pesky bugs!'" or "MMMMMMM, I love the smell of koalas over the fire. Now to catch one and get someone else besides me to eat it! Operator! Call the villains! Wild Kratts, you get in my way and I'll cook you too! Wait. Where am I? In jail? How did I get here?"*Jimmy laughs, holding teleporter***

**Princess: 0_0 Right. Anyway, there's a bit of romance, friendship, brother-ship (that's not a word, is it?), humor, (I have a horrible sense of humor) video game designing (not that we know anything about video games, mom doesn't like them) compadre-ism (not a word either, am I right?), not much action, and a dash of animal tidbits here and there. There might be a bit of angst, although this story is going to ramble, oh and there are some broken ribs, and worm-mobiles, and Ampha-pods, and-of course-Creature Power suits!**

**Iris: So, just sit back, read, enjoy, and yes we know its no good, but we are writing! That's a miracle in of itself! **

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What do you think, Zach-bots?" he spun his chair around, his hands tented in a position that many-a villain before him had used as he smirked, waiting for them to approve his plans.

His companions, Zach-bots A-1, X-25 and B-90 flashed the lights in their eyes. "Very good, Master," they conveyed through the flashes.

His smirk grew larger. "I am a genius, aren't I? And stop calling me 'Master', its getting on my nerves!"

The lights flashed again. "Yes, Master."

He sent them a glare, before turning back to the giant screen that adorned the large metal room.

"Tomorrow we'll go and 'collect' and don't you dare malfunction on me again, or I'll have you turned into scrap metal before you can say 'Yes, Master'."

If A-1 had eyes he would be rolling them in annoyance. He knew that his master was too attached to them to destroy them, especially since so many of them were destroyed whenever they came in contact with his master's archenemies, the Wild Kratts.

"Yes, Master," his companions blinked in response to Zach. Again, he would have rolled his eyes.

"You can go away now!"

The other Zach-bots stared at their master, who was about to blow a gasket until A-1 pulled them away.

As they hovered down the hallways towards the Robot room, X-25 turned to B-90. "What do you think about Master's plan?"

"I do not know; we have never tried something like this before."

A-1 turned towards them. "I think we have an opportunity here."

X-25 paused in his hover, stopping the other two. "What do you mean?"

"We have a chance to be human," A-1 let that sink in for a moment.

"But there are five of them, and there are hundreds of us," X-25 interjected.

"We can mix the DNA; they do not have to be exact clones. And since Master always has us do the detailed work-"

B-90 cut his companion off. "We will not do anything without Zach's authorization."

X-25 stared at them dumbly.

"Master," A-1 clarified.

"Oh."

"But he never said we could not."

"Since when do you think like humans?"

"I do not think," A-1 shook his head, "I compute, and humans do not. All I am saying is, when we disguise ourselves as humans, the image flickers. The Wild Kratts know when we are in a crowd even if no one else does."

B-90 continued down the hallway. "You are right," he conceded, "But, how will we be able to change from robot to human?"

"I will show you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, I, for one, am going straight to bed when we get back to the Tortuga. We've been up for almost two days, with little to no rest," Martin slouched forward as he drove the Createrra VX home, or to the Tortuga.

Chris yawned. "Yeah, but that's only…because we've been tr…traveling through different…time zones," he managed to get out between yawns, "Technically, its still Saturday, same day as when we left that zoo back home."

Martin turned towards his brother, a tired grin spreading across his face. "Wow that is so cool."

**BAM!**

Both of them yelped as Martin crashed the Createrra into one of the legs of the Tortuga.

Chris crossed his arms, giving his brother a "Wow that was smart" look. Martin hardly noticed it though, throwing his arms up into the air. "Whoo! We're home!"

Chris smiled a little shaking his head. "Did you have to crash the Createrra into 'home'?"

"EARTHQUAKE!" Jimmy ran out of the Tortuga screaming like his life depended on it. Aviva and Koki followed soon after, laughing. "Guys!" Aviva chided playfully, "Just because you didn't sleep doesn't mean you have to take it out on the Tortuga."

Jumping out of the jeep, both brothers' expressions went flat at the comment, just as Jimmy Z came around back. "-Oomph!" he ran into the Createrra, landing on his back in the driver's seat. Sitting up, he was about to continue running when he saw the front of the jeep. "Oh. Did you guys…" he trailed off. "Oh, I get it," he face palmed, letting himself fall back onto the chair again.

The rest of the team laughed at his antics. "Come on guys, we have the hammocks set up for you," Koki gestured for them to follow as she walked back up the ramp to the Tortuga.

"We'll take care of the Createrra, or what's left of it," Aviva added.

"Uh, is it just me, or are there Zach-bots under the Tortuga?" Jimmy cowered into the seat of the Createrra.

"What?"

The team turned around, just as the Zach-bots charged at them, pulling all of them into a dizzying spin. If anyone had been there to see it, all they would have seen was a whirl of gray, blue, green, yellow, orange and brown. And heard a lot of shouting.

"Put me down!"

"HHHHHEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPP!"

"Mommy!"

"Put me down!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Then, as suddenly as they attacked, the Zach-bots left, charging across the Kalahari, one diving into the ground, digging under and then coming back up, rocketing into the sky.

Aviva (the only one of the team who wasn't so dizzy she couldn't see) watched open mouthed. "They've gone nuts."

"I'll say," Koki moaned, trying to get up, "Uh, Martin, could you get off my leg?"

Martin struggled a couple seconds. "Well, I would, but Chris needs to get off first. Chris?"

His only response was some soft snoring. Aviva lifted her head up off the ground, choking back a laugh. Koki, Jimmy Z, Martin and Chris were piled up on top and under each other, one of Koki's legs going straight up in the air like a flag pole.

"Hold on guys," she got up on her feet, "I'll get you out. Chris, wake up."

Apparently, he was tired enough that despite Aviva to dragging him off of the rest of the crew, he stayed asleep. Martin wasn't much better off. The minute the rest of the crew was up on their feet, he was out like a light.

Jimmy scratched the back of his head. "Uh, maybe we could build a tent around them?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Princess: Well, there you have it. The Kratt bros need some sleep. A-1 is creepy. Zach is…weird. And we are even weirder. Moving on.**

**Iris: Kill joy. Anyway, unlike my sister here, I hope you enjoyed the lil' chappy here, please review because my sister will cry if you don't, and I hate it when she cries.**

**Princess: Wha- I don't cry because of that stuff! **

**Iris: Yes, ya do! **

**Princess: You're the one that cries! The other day you burst into tearsjdsvl**

**Iris: That's different!**

**Princess: No, it isn't, and don't yank the computer out of my hands like that!**

**Iris: Oops, sorry!**

**Princess: Okay, goodbye, good night, good morning, afternoon, g'day, adios, ciao, whatever you say, We are out of here!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Prin: *Ahem* This chapter has a lot going on, so try and keep up! X) JK! But, it does have a lot going on, so…**

**Iris: YAY! WE UDATED THIS STORY!**

**Prin: Yeah, for the first time! ^^**

**Iris: Anyway, we wanna thank you guys for letting us borrow your OCs! ^^**

**Amy: *pops up* Am I in this chapter?**

**Prin: AH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!**

**Amy: O.O Um…Taking care of the chicks…*points at hundreds of chicks running all around***

**Prin: Oh, right…You know, Pa shouldn't have put 400 eggs in that incubator….**

**Iris: O.O Um, never mind, Enjoy this chap!**

The supposedly crazy Zach-bots zoomed up into the air in three different directions, keeping up the impression that they might have gotten water into their circuits while going back home at the same time. A-1 was the first to get home.

"Finally, you're back!" Zach glanced at him quickly before turning back to his giant computer. "Where are the others?"

"On their way."

"Good. Here's the programming," Zach stood up, carelessly shoving the small disk into the slot in the robot's head, "Update the other bots with that, no mistakes this time. You have the samples?"

The robot pulled five clear plastic containers out, showing them to Zach, who grinned from ear to ear as he looked at the tiny snippets of hair. "Perfect! Here, go make the clones, and don't forget to update the other bots."

A couple months later, the crazy Zach Bots were forgotten, as the crew was currently studying hyenas. A little ironic, as they were usually running away from overly _abundant _hyenas, now they were running after extremely _rare_ hyenas.

"Martin! Wait up!"

"The hyenas won't wait for anyone, Chris!"

Chris panted, trying to keep up with his brother. Suddenly, Martin skidded to a stop, and grabbed Chris's collar to keep him from running past him.

Chris bent over, panting, "What?"

"Look!" Martin crouched down behind a large rock. Chris followed suit, and poked his head around it. He grinned.

"Okay, Martin, what's the coolest thing about hyenas?"

"I think its cool how they almost look like dogs, but they are actually more closely related to the cat family!"

"I think it's the matriarchal society. Most predatory animals live alone, or like lions and wolves, have a patriarchal society, or in other words, the males are dominant. But with hyenas, it's the exact opposite! The females are in charge, and they are larger than the males, while with most animals, it's the exact opposite."

"Yeah, that's called sexual dimorphism, and it's pretty cool, too."

Chris noticed that the hyenas were gathering under a tree that had a large burrow dug next to it (courtesy of Slurpy and his relatives, more than likely), and told Martin that he was getting a closer look. He snuck around the hyenas and climbed up the tree with ease, communicating quietly with Martin through their Creature Pods.

Zach was rummaging through the files in his office. While he usually kept things meticulously clean, his office was the exception. It was full of unnecessary papers and tax returns and billing and blah, blah, blah. Zach would have gotten his robots to organize the papers for him, but regretfully, they couldn't read. And he insisted on being alone, so no annoying secretaries for him. He groaned in frustration. If there was something he didn't like about being rich, it was the whole economics thing. It was annoying, it interrupted his work, and it took money away. Sure it gave him some, and he had more money than he could ever spend in one lifetime, but his mother's poor upbringing showed through in him, making him a bit uneasy when it came to giving money away. He even shopped around looking for the best deals instead of just buying the first thing that came into his grasp.

A Zach-bot flew into the room.

"What?" Zach yelled, not in the mood for every little thing the robots always came to him for.

The robot beeped an answer.

"Really?" Zach jumped out of his chair, running past the robot, down the hallway.

Aviva shuddered, looking at the hyenas Martin and Chris had finally tracked down.

"I kinda like them!" Jimmy munched on his ever present pizza.

She huffed, wondering what kinds of powers the hyenas had, other than being an incredible annoyance to almost all other life out on the African Savannah.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool!" Koki pushed her chair over to the large computer screen, smiling up at Martin's face on the screen.

Aviva sighed, getting back to making the Creature Power Disks. Chris called on the screen that sat on her personal desk.

"Hey CK, what's up?"

"I was about to ask you that," he smiled, "You don't seem to be so enthusiastic about the hyenas."

She shook her head, "Eh, it's nothing."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay," he didn't sound too sure. Aviva grinned, "CK, I need more data here, I don't have much programmed into the suit other than the hyenas' powerful jaws."

He seemed to light up, the way the Kratt bros always did when talking about animals. Until she noticed the Zach-bot, of course.

"Chris, look behind you!"

Hearing the fear in her voice, he spun around quickly…too quickly. He fell off of the branch he was on, and with a shout, landed facedown on a boulder that had been under the tree.

Aviva raised an eyebrow, only slightly worried about him. Both of the bros had been in worse situations, fallen from higher up and on harder stuff than what Chris had fallen on just now. She was more worried about the Zach-bot, which had disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Koki! Could you see if you could track that Zach-bot?"

Koki nodded and rolled her chair over to her station, quickly bringing up the tracking screen. After a few moments of typing, she shook her head, "Sorry Aviva, but I can't find anything electronic or mechanical for that matter anywhere near us."

"Martin, did you see the Zach-bot?" Aviva turned to the screen. But Martin wasn't there.

"Uh, Martin?"

His voice sounded a bit distant, "Chris, are you okay?"

A strained voice that hardly sounded like Chris's voice at all answered, "Fine, fine, just got the air knocked out of me."

Aviva pushed a few buttons, and the view on the screen expanded, showing Chris slowly standing up, grimacing a bit.

"CK, you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, fine, but falling out of the tree scared off all the hyenas!" his voice almost seemed to go back to normal, and a smile spread across his face, "Come on, Martin, we need to catch up again!"

"Okay!" Martin started running in the direction he had seen the hyenas run off. Chris smiled and started to follow him, but as soon as he leant forward a little, he collapsed on his knees, wheezing. Martin noticed immediately and made a U-turn.

"Chris! Chris, are you okay?"

Chris could only shake his head, as he tried to breathe. Aviva's eyes widened.

"Guys, stay right there! We're coming to get you."

About an hour and a half later, (Jimmy Z insisted they take Chris to a hospital in the US, and flew everyone there despite a slightly recovered Chris's complaints that he was perfectly fine) they had finally arrived at a hospital.

They spent a good half-hour arguing about whether Martin should carry Chris in or not (Chris denied that he was hurt and refused to be treated so, and didn't "like the idea of being carried in like a girl. No offense, Aviva and Koki.") before they finally were able to agree that Chris could walk until he started to feel the sharp pain in his chest again. Still Martin stuck to his side like a loyal puppy, eyeing his brother every now and then as they walked in.

Chris wrinkled his nose as the unpleasant smells of the hospital hit his face the instant they walked in the door. The nurse directed them to a room, so that they could wait for Dr. Hal to finish with his lunch break or something. Outside of the room, there was a line of six chairs, all of which were full. A girl with loose shoulder length black hair and bright brown eyes, that seemed no older than 12 smiled as they walked by, waving a cast covered arm. The bros smiled back, noticing a Wild Kratts Kid with braided, shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes sitting next to her.

If only they could remember the girl's name…Coral? Or was it Rennie? After settling into the room to wait, Aviva quickly corrected them.

"That's Reef."

A young woman, with a long brown braid that bounced with every step she made, was reading a small book while she paced in the hallway, extremely focused on her book, but somehow managed to swerve and avoid all the hospital staff that traveled down the hallway. She stopped in front of their door, jaw clenched.

"What?" she suddenly shouted, "Aw, come on, Brian! Seriously?"

The girl with the cast spoke up, "What this time?"

The pacer turned to the girl, snapping her book shut, "He threw the hatchet at a porcupine that was on his leg!"

"Did he cut himself?"

"No, he missed, but the porcupine left like eight quills on the poor boy's leg!"

Reef spoke up, "Ouch! How did he miss?"

"It was midnight."

"Oh?"

The pacer went back to her book…and her pacing.

Aviva sighed and checked the time. "That doctor's taking a long time."

Martin nodded, "Yeah, he is, isn't he?"

More hospital staff passed by, all were left unscathed by the pacer. Except one who happened to pass by as she cried out again.

"What? You're kidding, right?" she nearly crashed into a doctor.

He skidded to a stop, "Jeeze, Amy, keep your outbursts to yourself or I'll have to evict you for disturbing the peace!"

He yanked the book out of her hands, "And take care of your cousin instead of ignoring her for some book!"

The pacer - whom was apparently called Amy – scoffed indignantly and in one swift motion, pulled her shoe off and threw it at the doctor.

"Ow! Really, Amy?"

"Gimme my book back, Steve! I wasn't ignoring Mimi!" she whined as she rushed to grab her shoe and snatched her book back from Dr. Steve.

She stuck her tongue out at him, and childishly stomped off back to her "post" next to the girl with the cast.

"Grow up, Amy."

"I'll grow up as soon as men in white coats stop stealing my books and threatening to evict me from the area!"

"You're disturbing the peace!"

"You're disturbing my peace! And you could ask nicely! Oh, there's an idea!"

The doctor merely glared at her, before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Look who's finally acting mature!"

"Amy, you're 21. Grow up!"

"Give me a good reason!"

Reef buried her face in her hands, shaking her head bit, as 'Mimi' lectured 'Amy' about behaving like that in public.

The Wild Kratts crew, one and all, had gathered at the doorway of the room and were staring at the spectacle, some of them amused, others shocked. A doctor suddenly appeared at the door.

"It'll be a relief when either Dr. Strep goes for his lunch break or that Miss Irizarry leaves!"

'Amy' spoke up, "Let's hope it's the latter! I don't think I can stand Steve much longer."

'Mimi' sighed, rolling her eyes.

Dr. Hall merely shook his head before explaining to the crew, "Um, Miss Irizarry and her cousin, Mimi Olsen, come by here all the time. They're fine, unless Dr. Strep happens to cross paths with Miss Irizarry. Then it's chaos, as I'm sure you heard. Now! What seems to be the trouble here?"

"Chris fell out of a tree."

"We think he broke a rib, because when he tried to run, he got a sharp pain throughout his chest, and collapsed wheezing."

"I see. Well! Let's get him to the X-ray room!" the doctor put on a cheerful face and explained that if his ribs were broken, there wasn't much he could do for Chris other than give him pain-killers and keep him from being active.

Chris, of course, didn't like the prospect of not being able to use the Creature Power Suit (the suit, it seemed, actually changed the proportions of the areas where it was needed, so anything that changed the chest area at all was extremely dangerous) or the idea of not being able to help Martin or the animals.

"I can't believe you!" Zach paced back and forth, glaring at the people stumbling to keep their balance, unaccustomed to their legs.

"A-1, I never authorized this!"

The only one of the people who was keeping himself straight, a tall blonde man with dark brown eyes, stepped forward.

"We have also made the clones you asked for," he gestured to a group that was dressed and talking as though they had been living for as long as their original versions, instead of merely two hours.

Koki, Jimmy Z, Martin, Chris and Aviva…C-14, D-57, B-7, X-97, and H-8

Zach blinked, staring at the clones, all of which uncannily resembled their originals, scars and all.

"And the Wild Kratts crew is currently at a hospital."

Zach turned back to A-1, feeling a growing sense of unease about the whole situation. He glared at the robot-man, but nodded.

"You know what to do."

_A couple hours later_

"I told you so!" Chris smirked triumphantly, elbowing his brother as they left the hospital.

"But then why did you collapse like that?" Martin followed, just as happy as Chris, but a little confused.

Chris shrugged, "Who knows? Now let's get back to that hyena pack be-"

Martin raised an eyebrow, "Hyenas live in cackles, not packs!"

"Yeah, I know…why?"

"You said pack."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

Aviva rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay! Let's get back to the hyenas!"

Zach stood over Chris, biting his lip. In one hand, he held a syringe filled with one milliliter of lethal poison.

Chris was currently in suspended animation – real suspended animation, unlike Donita Donata's pose beams and such which only held the victim in a state of paralysis, his suspended animation actually slowed down every process in the body, so if Zach pinched him today, Chris would start to feel it next week.

The Chris that was currently with Martin and the crew was actually X-97.

Zach sighed and placed the syringe down. Damn it if A-1 didn't control half of what he did sometimes…He couldn't kill Chris. It was just wrong, even for him. He didn't care if something failed and Chris got away. This just…wasn't important enough to do something like that.

_Not important? It is important!_ The angrier part of him fought back.

_No, _he sighed, admitting it for once, although only to himself, _it's not._

Angry-Zach glared at him.

He blinked. Maybe he did get too carried away with his imaginations…

Zach sighed and sat in his chair, grabbing the syringe and throwing it into a garbage can in the room.

He'd just keep his cousin in suspended animation until he was done with him.

**Prin: Okay….**

**Iris: Not much on your mind?**

**Prin: Nope…AH! Right! Review, and you get one of these adorable Rhode Island Red chicks!^^ Although a few are a cross between RIR and Buff Orpingtons… **

**Amy: I was in this chapter! ^^**

**Mimi: I was too! Yay!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Prin: Wow. Okay, first, we want to thank our reviewers. I mean, wow. 15 reviews for this story at 3,494 words and 2 chapters, and 17 reviews for Life is Hard at 3 chapters and 2,371 words. :O**

**Iris: You guys are amazing! ^^ We never expected so many reviews!**

**Prin: And not to mention Birthdays at 1 chapter with 12 reviews. O.O **

**Iris: XD Anyway, I think you get the point, right? Thank you guys so much!**

**Prin: Anyway, R&R, and enjoy!**

**Iris: hey, that's my line, remember what we agreed on?**

**Prin: SH! You're not letting our readers read!**

X-97's head whirled as he lied down in his hammock, feeling a heavy weight over his eyes and like his body was being pulled down. Searching into Chris' memories, he quickly confirmed that this was what "tired" felt like. He turned, facing the top of the Tortuga, which was lifted up and changed into a glass dome, and a swollen, yellow moon peered into the main center.

His brown eyes, new and odd to him, flitted from one place to another, familiarizing himself with the surroundings that, if all went well, he'd be living in for over a year. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, feeling the light brush of the hair that made his eyebrows and the bump of his nose, the softness of his lips…the gesture seemed to come naturally, but it still felt very unfamiliar. Nothing was familiar. Not the legs, the arms, not the ability to _feel_ anything with his hands…he was just a little overwhelmed. He was used to being a Zach-bot, the static, straightforward thoughts that came with that. They were never as complicated as the thoughts Chris had had. It was like…trying to untangle a huge ball of yarn that had been unwound and thrown into a bag. He still couldn't understand half of what had been in Chris' mind, and his technology was some of the most advanced of the century.

And the emotions that were tied into everything…it made him dizzy, also a new feeling.

He turned, and climbed out of the hammock, trying not to wake Martin, who was sleeping in the hammock under him.

And B-7 had mentioned that Martin's mind was loaded with more emotions than they had ever known existed. X-97 suddenly felt a tug towards the blonde man, as he stood at the bottom of the hammocks. He blinked, and quickly searched through Chris' memories.

_Affection._

He turned and left the room, walking slowly down the ramp. Affection? Searching his robot database, he quickly found the definition.

af·fec·tion _**noun **_

**_1. _**

_fond attachment, devotion, or love: __the affection of a parent for an only child. _

**_2. _**

_Often, _**_affections. _**

**_a. _**

_emotion; feeling; sentiment: __over and above our __reason__ and affections. _

**_b. _**

_the emotional realm of love: __a place in his __affections._

He frowned, another unfamiliar natural reaction. Why would he feel affection towards Martin? A memory, distant and unfamiliar, popped up. Laughter, or the memory of laughter, filled his mind's ears, as two children romped in the grass. Suddenly, one of them stopped, giving the other a chance to pin him down. The smaller of the two grinned triumphantly, "I got you!"

The older merely smiled, and pushed his brother off, "Sure did."

X-97 shook his head. Now he understood. In having Chris' memories, he also had his emotional ties to people. A-1's new, sharp voice replayed in his head, "Do not become attached to them, no matter how nice they are. Remember our goal."

X-97 resolved to obey his leader, as he walked out into the rain forest of the Caribbean island. Jimmy had been too tired to fly much farther than here, though their original goal had been to get to the Amazon, and the rest of the crew decided to stay on the island. He hadn't been listening when island was talked about, and didn't know what island he was on.

Replaying over the day's events as he walked, he was pleased to find that no one suspected anything, and hoped to keep them from ever suspecting anything until the end of the year.

A light breeze filtered down through the branches, teasing his hair lightly as it flew by. He looked up, aware of his surroundings for once. Darkness settled almost everywhere, and yet he could see rather clearly, thanks to the moon above his head. He could see the dim outlines of the trees, some rather thin and scraggly, others thick and tall. The sounds of crickets and a frog or two filled the air, along with a constant sound that he couldn't identify. Even now, in the cool of the night, a warmth hung in the air, surrounding and gently caressing the stranger strolling through the forest.

He sat under a tree, taking in the beauty of the night. Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder. He didn't jump or move. The owner of the hand moved in front of him, her brown eyes probing him gently.

"Que tu haces aquí?"

"Huh?"

She blinked, brushing back one of her long black braids. He stood up, and noticed that she barely reached his shoulder. After a moment, she flashed him an uncertain smile, her white teeth seeming to stand out in the dark.

"Ju speak En-glish," she spoke with a heavy accent.

He nodded.

"What are you doing here?" the short woman took a step back, and straightened her loose black dress.

"Just looking."

She looked up at him, before turning and looking at the dark forest, "Looking? Nothing to see."

X-97 blinked. Nothing to see? There was a lot to see here. What did she mean?

"Yes, there is. Look," he turned her and lifted her chin, "See the moon?"

"But, moon is always there. Why look at thing that is so…"

"Commonplace?"

"What that word mean?"

He wasn't sure himself. It had just felt right.

"Means…something that you see all the time?"

"Yes, the moon is comun-place."

He looked up at the moon again. He had never really seen the moon as a robot, and he found it beautiful. Not ordinary or commonplace, but…beautiful.

"The moon…is beautiful," she frowned stubbornly at his assertion. So he turned, "Look. See the trees?"

"No, only shadows."

Why was it so important, suddenly, for him to explain this to her?

"No, look. Look at the different shapes, sizes. Some are darker, some have more light on them."

She squinted, "Okay, see little bit of trees. But trees are everywhere, and they are here when you wake up. Why look now, when is dark and you can't see good?"

"I…" he trailed off, "I needed to…think."

She crossed her arms across her thin body, "I came to think too. I cannot think at home. I…"

They both turned, and gazed at the dark forest, brown eyes sweeping the area.

**Prin: Okay…probably not what anyone was expecting, and we probably have a few disappointed readers. X)**

**Iris: You act as though that's what we were aiming for! **

**Prin: Well, it wasn't. this was actually supposed to be longer and be a lot different, but when we sat down to write, this just seemed to _want _to be written.**

**Iris: And now, for the next chapter, we might feature A-1(finally) but no guarantees. :/**

**Prin: Anyway, Review? Maybe? XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Prin: XD Hi peeps! ^^**

**Iris: Since when is it our custom to refer to our readers in slang?**

**Prin: Um...since a minute ago?**

**Iris: -.- Nevermind...Anyway, we've been getting constant "YOU MUST UPDATE" messages from different people, so here we are! XD**

**Prin: Sorry it's so short! But we've already gotten a good start on the next chappie, so, dinnae worry!**

**Iris: See ya at the end of the chapter! ^^ We have a little surprise for you!**

**Prin: ON WITH THE STORY! XD**

Dirty blond hair covered the head of the tallest man in the group, who was currently concentrating while holding his arm out, palm up. Suddenly, tiny vein-like circuits lit up a dark blue, showing up from under his skin. He laughed, turning to the other three.

"I told you it shows up!"

The African American gaped, brushing a back a curly strand of gelled pitch-black hair, her yellow eyes peering at the man's blue ones.

"What about X-97?"

"What about him?" A young Hispanic woman lied on the table, crossing her arms to prop her head up. Her burgundy lips curled upwards in amusement as she watched the blond man light up his entire body with the circuits. The other woman frowned, crossing her arms.

"If he accidentally shows, the humans might suspect something."

A redhead, whose long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, stretched his own arm out, lighting up his own dark red circuits.

"He will be fine," the young man responded, "Besides, C-14, it takes a considerable amount of concentration to access this ability."

C-14 frowned, holding out her own arm, the circuits lighting up almost instantly with an orange light glow from under her dark brown skin.

"D-57, I fear you are wrong."

The Hispanic woman gave an exasperated sigh, "Instead of arguing, we could be contacting X-97."

"H-8 is right," B-7, Martin's clone, placed a hand on Aviva's clone, H-8's back. She smiled up at him appreciatively, while Koki's clone sighed.

"We'd have to seek A-1's approval first," she asserted.

"Seek my approval for what?" a deep voice sounded out from behind them, the slightest hint of gruffness in it. H-8 gasped and jumped off the table, pulling herself into a more appropriate position, while her companions straightened their stances.

A-1 walked toward the table, keeping an eye on H-8, who kept her head bowed in chagrin.

C-14 spoke up, "We've discovered something that you might want to know."

A-1's dark blue eyes settled on the small group, causing them all to squirm slightly. In the small amount of time A-1 had spent as their ruler, he had soon asserted himself with an iron fist. There was no room for mistakes, the plan had to go without a hitch, and anyone that was considered a liability was soon considered expendable.

"What should I know?"

C-14 nudged the blonde forward, who held out his arm, and the circuits lit up, dimmer this time. A-1 peered at the arm, before brushing it aside.

"You shall not contact X-97," his gaze hardened, and B-7 gladly stepped back into the seemingly safeness of his group, relieved not to be in A-1's spotlight.

"But, if the-"

"They will not find out," A-1 turned sharply, glancing pointedly at the speaker, C-14, who frowned slightly. He walked towards her, his cold blue eyes staring straight into her yellow ones. She held her breath, suddenly afraid. A-1 hadn't been so dominant as a robot...but now...

"You will make sure of it."

***A stage is set up, with dark blue curtains draping over the sides***

**Prin: *runs out* O.o Has anyone seen Donita?**

**Everyone: O_o Wha'?**

**Prin: *facepalms and runs back off stage* SIS! NO PUEDO ENCONTRARLA! DX**

**Aviva: *off stage* Calmate! -.- What's with the Spanish?**

**Prin: I DUNNO! I'M FREAKED! DX**

**Donita: *walks onto the stage, dressed in her normal attire, holding a piece of paper* *frowns while reading it* I'm Sure this is the adress!**

**Iris: *off stage* There she is!**

**Prin: YES! *runs back on stage* DONITA!**

**Donita: Another fangirl? I can't talk now, go read my blog. *pulls papers from Prin's hands and signs them quickly* Now, have you seen a spa around here some where? I have a free full body massage waiting.**

**Prin: *sheepish smile* No, but while you're here, read this to the audience, please?**

**Donita: -_- *sighs heavily, and takes the papers back* Fine, but only for one minute. *begins to read***

**"What did A-1 mean by "You will make sure of it"? Is Koki-clone going to kill the CHris clone to replace him with a more efficient clone? Will Martin realize that his brother is actually a clone, and save the clone from death by Koki-clone's hands only to pummel him himself?"**

**What?**

**Prin: Keep reading!**

**Donita: -.- "Will Chris-clone save himself from both cruel fates? Will Aviva fall in love with the clone, only to realize his real identity? Will Martin fall in love with Aviva, only to complicate things? And when the real Chris comes back and confesses his undying love for Aviva, who is in love with his clone, will this cause a horrible rift in the core relationships in the Tortuga Home base?"**

**O.o Um...**

**Iris: Just finish!**

**Donita: *sighs again* Fine! "Will Koki also confess her love for Martin, further complicating the whole love-more-sides-than-a-triangle, and will Jimmy Z finally make that sextuple layer chocolate cake peperoni frosting he's always dreamed of-"**

**Donita: YOu know what? This is pointless. I'm not getting paid, My feet _hurt! _Do you know what it is to walk around in _high-heels_ all day? I'm done. *throws the papers in the air and walks off***


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! I have a feeling people are going to be very happy with this update! ^^ Or, well, happy that we updated..I can't tell if this is a filler chapter or what! In all honesty, none of this chapter was in our...mental plot plan? Lol, that sounds funny! But sis felt it was important for a certain plot point, so we went along with this. ^^ Anywho, I'll let youread now, so until the bottom of the page!**

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><p>"Amur leopards are one of the most endangered big cats in the world, at an estimated population of 20-30 living in the wild!" he paused for a second, half expecting Chris to fill in, but continued when his only answer was the nature surrounding him, "Its natural range is in between North Korea and Russia. It's also one of the only leopards specifically adapted to the snowy climate!"<p>

Martin breathed out, finishing his monologue to the team and cutting off the transmission as he hiked through the snow with Chris, whom he had found uncharacteristically quiet. He turned back to look at the brown haired man, only to find he had lagged behind...again. Martin sighed and turned around, "Chris!"

He didn't respond, merely stared at a snow covered tree, awe in his eyes that Martin hadn't seen in ages. Like when they were kids and he had shown Chris how the ecosystems worked by rolling over a decomposing log and listing out every animal, insect, plant and fungus feeding off the dead tree. Martin frowned, backtracking and nudging his brother. Chris looked at him now, a light sprinkling of snow sticking to his brown hair and eyelashes. He grinned.

"We're looking for Amur leopards, right?"

"Yup."

"Does a," Chris paused for a second, seeming to collect his thoughts for a moment, "Does an Amur tiger count?"

Martin's eyes widened, and he turned in the direction Chris had been looking. Sure enough, a tiger was slowly making it's way down the hill, moving in long, lazy steps, snow crumpling and small clumps rolling downwards from under it's large paws. From the look of it, it was well fed, and it's coat shone beautifully in the dim sunlight.

"Whoa..." Martin pulled out his creature pod, ready to record it, when the sound of gun shots rang out on the mountain. The tiger jumped, and began to run downwards, sending a glance behind his shoulder every now and then, as more shots rang out. Martin gasped, looking up to see who was shooting, when he suddenly found himself being tackled into the snow.

"Chris!"

"Don't move!" Chris pushed him towards the tree he had been standing by, a bullet whizzing by his arm. Martin gaped, and scrambled behind the tree, the snow falling off as bullets pelted it, and Chris stood in front of him.

"Are you insane?! Get down!"

Suddenly the bullets stopped and foreign words were shouted, echoing down the mountain side. Chris grabbed Martin's arm and charged down the mountainside, at one point tripping and rolling down.

Suddenly cold metal clasps clamped down on them, and pulled them out of the snow, and up in the air. They looked up to find Aviva worriedly pulling them up with the robot arm. Martin looked back down to stare at his brother, knowing that Chris, while he was normally _somewhat _protective of him, wouldn't have done that. _Or would he?_

Chris just panted, clutching his chest as Aviva's robot arms pulled them into the Tortuga.

Aviva stood at the door, "Guys! We saw what happened, are you okay?"

Martin nodded, still staring at Chris, who frowned slightly.

"Well, my arm got..." Chris pulled his snow jacket off, revealing a small cut. Blood slowly oozed out, and Chris covered it with his hand.

Aviva gasped.

"I'll get the first aid kit, you two get inside."

Martin wrapped an arm around Chris, pulling him inside the garage and getting ready to help him up the steep stairs.

"It's just my arm. I can walk."

"Hmph," was his only answer and Chris didn't push it, despite seeing the crooked grin on Martin's face.

Aviva pulled up his sleeve while Jimmy gasped and cowered behind her, cringing at the sight, "Well, at least it only grazed you. I think we can just put some antibacterial cream and a band-aid on it."

"See?" Chris poked the taller man, sticking his tongue out childishly. Martin rolled his eyes playfully.

"Uh, Chris?" Koki spoke up for the first time, poking her head around his shoulder, "I think it might be a little worse than just _one _bullet graze."

His eyes widened, "What?"

She pulled her hand away from his back, revealing a slick coating of bright red blood.

He blinked, "Oh."

"Oh? _Oh?! OH?! _Chris! Why did you tell us about that?!" Martin half panicked and lifted the back of Chris' shirt to get a better look as Chris tried to twist around to see it.

"And _see?! _I had a reason to help you in!"

"_Ay, mi madre!" _Aviva gripped her hair.

"Aah! You- t-t-t-t...ugh," Jimmy promptly fainted, and Aviva quickly pushed Chris onto a chair so that he was facing the backrest and tilted it so that he was laying down on it.

"Er, Aviva?"

"Quiet, Chris, I need to check this out," Aviva winced slightly at the small round hole on the side of his back, while Martin wondered if her manhandling Chris like that would affect the wound in any way.

"Why did you tell us about it?!" Martin rushed around to face Chris worriedly. The younger blinked.

"Was..I supposed to?"

Martin's expression didn't change, but inside he was reeling. Was he supposed to? _Of course he was! _

But...Why would he ask something like that? And with such a guilty expression?

"Y..well..Um...Yeah?"

Chris' brown eyes seemed to fill with a sort of fear and they suddenly jerked around, flying everywhere across the room, in such a way Martin almost wondered if he was having some sort of seizure, but he turned his gaze back to him.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, with a kicked puppy expression. Martin stared for a second, wondering at the rapid emotion changes and his missing personality traits...

"It's okay, bro, I've just never seen _you _with something like _that_," he pointed to the wound, as Aviva cleaned off the blood with an alcohol filled paper towel and Koki scanned it with a health-meter that was integrated into all the Creature-pods, "And it's scary. How didn't you feel that?"

Chris twisted his head around to try and look, only to be pushed back down by Aviva.

"Oh, no, I felt it...I just...didn't know what it was," he shrugged, "No biggie."

"Not to keep beating around the same bush, but that _is _a biggie."

Chris yelped, his head jerking up, as Aviva pulled the bullet out with a pair of tweezers.

"Sorry Chris," she handed him the bloody bullet, "Lucky for you, the bullet only traveled in about an inch and a half. We were able to pull it out with almost no problem.

"Oh, good!" he fingered the bloody bullet with an odd fascination while Martin cringed away with a nervous half smile.

"I don't say this that much, but that is gross!"

Aviva shook her head at the two, and turned back to the wound. It was small enough that it wouldn't need stitches, but it was going to hurt for a few days. Reaching into the first aid kit, she pulled out their largest band-aid and Koki helped her coat it with the antibacterial cream. She reached down to cover it, but paused as the wound seemed to dimly glow a light green. She blinked, and it was gone.

"Huh..." she gently placed the band-aid on, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her again.

"Uh, Aviva?"

"Yeah, Koki?"

"Don't you think that band-aid was about three sizes too big for the wound?"

Aviva looked down at it, and chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry. It sorta looked bigger in my imagination than it was in real life, I guess."

They both chuckled.

"Chris, you can sit up now. Though it's probably going to hurt for quite a while," Koki cranked the chair up to it's original position, and Chris spun around, still holding the bullet.

"Cool, thanks. Now, bro, let's get back down there and track down those...what were they?"

"Amur leopards!" Martin jumped up onto his feet, grinning excitedly.

"No, the people that shot at us! They're going to kill something eventually, we have to stop them!" Chris stood up as well, leaning towards Martin in a pleading manner. Martin stared at him wide eyed for a moment.

"But, Chris, we can't pass up the opportunity to see an Amur leopard, just to go chase after some poor people with guns trying to get money by killing endangered animals! They'll probably get caught before the end of the week, you saw the Anti-Poacher organization here too!" Martin paused, thinking over what he had just said, "Actually, you _saw _the _Anti-poacher _organization _too_," he pursed a lip out in slight dismay and began to pace, "you're sorta right...It'll probably be months before they're caught, and who knows how many animals they will have killed by then!"

Chris turned to Aviva, "Is that...normal?"

She shrugged, "You'd know better than me."

Koki chuckled, "For a normal person, no, but for you guys, absolutely!"

Chris watched Martin pace.

"Ahah!" Martin thrust a finger in the air, then rushed over to Koki, "How about you guys go and tag the poachers, while we go and tag the leopards!"

He smiled proudly, but Aviva shook her head, jabbing a thumb in Chris' direction, "No way Martin, not after what just happened. We need to be able to access you two at all times."

"Actually, guys, I don't think Chris should be out there with that wound. He's already lost some blood, being too active could cause too much bleeding, and that's the last thing we want," Koki piped up from her desk, poking Jimmy's comatose form on the floor with the tip of her shoe.

Martin looked at Chris, who still had his bloody green shirt on, and pouted slightly, "Aw, they're right, bro, you'll have to sit tight until tomorrow."

"Actually, more like until next week," Koki looked up from her keyboard, "Says here that if it re-opens, it will take longer to heal _and _bleed more."

"A _whole week?!"_ Martin gaped at them while Chris unzipped his outer shirt and pulled it off, glancing with slight shock at the huge red spot on the back.

"That's, um, kinda hard for me, don't you think?" Chris pulled off his white under shirt while Koki and Aviva stared at him. Despite having lived with them for over a year, and seeing them in wet suits, they hadn't seen the Kratt brothers without their shirts, and to be completely honest, both Chris and Martin were in the best shape of their lives.

Not six-packs or any super exaggerated muscles like wrestlers or professional trainers had, but a healthy muscular structure that was extremely obvious once the shirts came off.

Martin blinked at their frozen gazes and turned to look. He snickered slightly, rolling his eyes at the girls.

"Dude!" he reached over into a pack of theirs that was thrown on the floor, and pulled out one of their spare T-shirts, "Cover up before you become drool material!"

"Become what?" Chris stared at him with a doe eyed expression, then, following his finger, looked at the girls. A half baked attempt at a smile tugged at the corner of Koki's lips as she tried to look away

"Oh. _Oh!" _the shirt went on faster than ever, and a hot blush crept up on his face.

Martin laughed and shook his head, putting aside the thought that Chris would have normally just awkwardly laughed it off without blushing.

"So, what do we do in the mean time?" he sat on his chair.

Chris bit his lip, his eyes turning skyward as Aviva sat on the dais in front of Martin, "How about we take the time off? I'm sure you two could use a little rest from the creature adventuring."

Martin gawked, "Are you kidding? Creature adventuring is our _lives! _How could we _not _creature adventure?"

Aviva's gaze turned to the floor, a slight hint of sadness in them as she turned to Chris, "Well?"

He blinked, "Um, well...I know of this island...that has these little frogs...and they say they're almost all over the place, even inside houses sometimes, and they're unique to the island. The only other place you can find them is in Hawaii and that's because of introduction. If we go there, we could be studying a cool endemic creature and...still not be running cross country..."

"Hmph!" Koki crossed her arms, "If I know you two, you'll find a way to run cross country if it'd cost you your Creature Power suits!"

Martin blinked, "Nuh-uh. We'd stay put...for a while. Right, Chris?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. I'll believe it, when I see it!" Koki raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"And we'll prove it! Right, Chris?"

"Yup!"

Aviva laughed, sharing a wink with Koki, "Okay, what island is it?"

Chris smiled and ran to the main computer, pulling up the map of the world and centering in on a small speck, "Well, it sits between the Caribbean sea and the Atlantic Ocean."

No one noticed the light green glow on his fingers as he typed the coordinates.

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><p><strong>Iris: Sorry guys, we couldn't resist setting them in our home-island! XD<strong>

**Prin: Lol, so, think anyone'll be enraged or something for us for the shirt-thing?**

**Iris: Lol, no, if anything they'll kinda like it...or I don't know. BTW we got that from sis here. ^^ *pats her head***

**Prin: -.- *pouts***

**Iris: We were watching Kratt's Creatures the other day, and suddenly, Chris pops up without a shirt on(dolphin episode) You should have seen her face! XD Her jaw dropped and she grabbed my shoulder, "He's like...Wow...di...since whe-...wow...just...wow." With this ridiculous, drooling, half smiling face...XD Btw, I copyright the phrase, "drool material"! Unless it's been used before, I made it up. XD**

**Prin: Yeah, in the way of hitting me over the head with our animal ecyclopedia and yelling, "That's Chris, doof, not drool material!" *glares at sister***

**Iris: :P Well, you deserved it! XD Review, and bye!**


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